1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to digital messaging and more particularly to the integration of legacy and new mission display systems with the military data link radios and the implementation of the Link 16 message set defined by MIL-STD-6016 and associated message processing capabilities.
2. Background Art
The military uses various tactical data link radios to send and receive digital voice and data between their air, land, sea and space vehicles, and command and control facilities. On each vehicle and in each command and control facility, these data link radios are interfaced to various mission computers and display systems. The data transmitted across these data link radios consists of messages, message formats, and message protocols defined by various message standards. The mission and display systems use the data contained in these messages from external sources and generate the data put into these messages sent to external systems.
Some examples of military data link radios are UHF line of sight (LOS) radios, UHF DAMA SATCOM, EHF MDR SATCOM, HF radios, Joint Tactical Information Distribution System (JTIDS), Multi-function Information Distribution System (MIDS), and Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). Military data link message standards can be Link 4, Link 11, Link 16, Link 22, and the Variable Message Format (VMF). Examples of mission and display systems are vehicle controls and displays equipment, mission computers, workstations, and network servers.
The Department of Defense (DoD) has recently selected the Link-16 data link message set (in accordance with MIL-STD-6016) as the standard for use on military platforms for tactical data link operations. In addition, the DoD is currently developing the Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) to use as the standard data link radio system. Each existing (legacy) and future military platform will use the JTRS with the Link 16 message set for its tactical data link capability.
As outlined in the DoD Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence (C4I) Joint Tactical Data Link Management Plan (dated June 2000), a wide range of legacy military platforms will be upgraded to incorporate the JTRS with the Link-16 message set through 2015 and beyond. These same legacy platforms are currently deployed with existing subsystems that generate information used by or consume information provided by various existing and disparate military data link systems. When the new JTRS equipment is introduced into these legacy platforms, there will be a need to interface the existing platform subsystems with the new JTRS equipment. Also, each existing subsystem will need to be upgraded to utilize the new and evolving Link 16 message set.
Since most of these existing platform subsystems were developed in the past, they either implement a subset of the Link 16 message set, or they implement a different and older data link message set such as Link 4 or Link 11. Also, many existing subsystems were designed to interface with older data link radio equipment and are not compatible with the newer data link radio equipment and message processing protocols. Each of these prior art systems are point solutions unique to the specific platform they are implemented on, and they are each provided by a specific company. These point solutions include receive, transmit, and processing functions. Receive functions receive the message from the data link radio, decode the message data, and send the data to the appropriate subsystem. Transmit functions collect specific data from platform subsystems, encode the data into the proper message format, and send the message to the data link radio. Processing functions act on selected data elements to perform specific tasks such as filtering, correlation, keeping track files, and other mission specific functions. Each solution only implements the subset of messages required for that platform's mission. When future changes are needed because the military wants to add, delete or modify specific messages and message processing for the platform, the military must return to the previous point solution company and pay them to implement the changes. Thus, the existing product solutions do not provide the military with the capability of modifying specific messages without a major product redesign on each unique platform. For example, on fighter aircraft the mission computer interfaces to the existing data link radio and performs the message processing for the message subset implemented on the specific fighter. The display system also processes those messages that contain situational awareness information, but tailors it for the specific fighter mission and display requirements.
There are many different implementations of data link integration used in the United States military aircraft as well as NATO countries. Each of these are point solutions that were designed specifically for the aircraft they are used on. A specific example is the Data Link Interface Processor (DLIP) provided by Thales Communications. However, these existing implementations do not offer the benefits of the Military Data Link Integration Application:                They only implement a subset of the full J-Series message set.        They are not user programmable. Any addition or deletion of messages or special message processing functions requires redesign of the operational software.        They do not use API databases to allow I/O re-configuration without modification.        They do not provide standard display system interfaces and video outputs.        
As a result, the upgrade costs for these existing platform subsystems will be enormous if traditional subsystem upgrade approaches are used. Traditional upgrade approaches involve point solutions and upgrades by different integrators on each platform application. A need exists for a common and low cost military data link integration (MDLI) product that can be used in multiple and disparate platform applications.